Is Google Testing Less Ads?

When I was looking through some of my brands traffic I noticed a huge spike in SEO over the last few days for all brands. As I was still looking into it, @sugarrae tweeted the following:

That fits with what I’m seeing on some major brands. When I started doing some searches, I noticed an odd trend. This only happened when I was logged in (but these days who isn’t logged in to Google?)

I DIDN’T SEE ADS!!!!!1!!!11one!! – Sure, they were still there for terms like “credit cards” but for many terms that you’d think would show ads, there weren’t any. Could this be why Rae and I are both seeing brand increases? Check out the screen shots below. All of them are terms that should probably show ads – but there aren’t any – or if there are, there’s only 1.

Is anybody else seeing similar?

Note: in the screenshot with the Chyrsler/Jeep/Dodge/Ram ads – those are re-targeted ads directed to me as Chrysler is a client and I visit their site several times per day.

Ryan Jones is an SEO from Detroit. By day he works as a manager of SEO & Analytics at SapientNitro where his team performs SEO for Fortune500 clients. By night he's either playing hockey or attempting to take over the world with his own websites - which he would have already succeeded in doing had it not been for those meddling kids and their dog. The views expressed here have not been paid for and belong only to Ryan, not any of his employers or clients. Follow Ryan on Twitter at: @RyanJones, add him on Google+ or visit his personal website: www.RyanMJones.com